I’ve been browsing through the old Yahoo group archives of the list, and have found some gems. Among them was the fact that a large number of INTJ folks reported that they often felt a strong desire to clean when under stress. So, now I know why I do that at times. Interestingly, it never seemed to work this way when I was a youngster - my mother kept us all stressed a good bit of the time and I never felt any great urge to clean up anything. Organized chaos rules!
11. May 2009 @ 22:48
I am an INFP type 6 according to the enneagram and am looking for a relationship with a INTJ. I’m 24, fit, male, and deeply interested in finding my compatible type. I was told I would enjoy a INTJ relation and so here I am looking. I am at fire_fate_leo@hotmail.com
29. June 2009 @ 05:06
Wow. I had always attributed that to childhood trauma…am quite surprised to see that this happens to others whose personalities are similar to mine!
17. August 2009 @ 00:53
Gosh that’s so true! I did that last week when I was stressed at work. I just started cleaning everything and throwing away old papers and shredding everything, until there was nothing left to do except the work I was avoiding in the first place. Having everything clean made me feel so much calmer when I finally started on the project.
4. October 2009 @ 03:24
Sometimes I do it to make myself feel better if I’m feeling blue. I think achieving something is satisfying. Maybe we feel better, because it’s nicer to be in a clean place, and that makes us feel happier.
6. November 2009 @ 02:29
HOLY CRAP! I totally do that. Every time I’m stressed, I become really aware and annoyed with messiness. The only problem is, I hate to clean. When I’m REALLY stressed, I usually end up having a little freakout/meltdown which results in my loving husband (ESFJ) helping me out by tidying up.
I found out just yesterday that I’m an INTJ… things suddenly make so much more sense!
18. March 2010 @ 20:01
Its absolutely true! the sense of satisfaction after cleaning something is so profound,its almost like being in a trance
25. April 2010 @ 14:33
I can not relax when the house is messy; i need solitude to wind down as well.
26. May 2010 @ 17:34
I find that I get restless when the house is messy; drives me nuts.
16. June 2010 @ 17:46
This usually happens more when i’m bored, which i try it doesn’t happen too often, because sometimes it also drives me to be impulsive. INTJ here
7. July 2010 @ 11:20
This happens to me too and I’m an ENTJ.
http://www.entjpersonality.info
31. August 2010 @ 16:50
For me i find that my behavior always originates in my subconscious and always has a goal (purpose) which I discover if I reexamine it long enough. Under stress I tend to focus on the problem and organize it into an achievable goal. The organization generally requires putting things into order and also generally requires getting rid of what I don’t need.
If the stress is due to grief (loss of something you can not have again), coming to that realization allows me to stop my obsession about it (and is generally accompanied by remembering something pleasant about the item lost). If one is cleaning in this situation the psychologist and psychiatrists will label you OCD. No amount of cleaning will change the negative emotions I feel.
I also at times have a sense of the profound after cleaning and organizing which I now credit to getting closer to what I need in order to be happy
I think fairycake said this in a simpler way.